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Monday, August 11, 2014

The Curry Mile is somewhere we ought to be proud of in Manchester. There aren't many other destinations in the city which boast over 70 different eateries across so many different cuisines; a great example of Manchester's boiling pot of cultures. We love the Curry Mile mainly because it's home to one of our favourite restaurants, the mighty Mughli, but we're also fully aware that there are loads of other independent businesses serving great food that we need to try. We're no experts, but Haz @mughli is a huge advocate of the Mile and happy to give recommendations. We're also lucky that our friends @mcrfoodies also know all the good spots and on this occasion took us out for a slap-up tea at Antalya Café, a Turkish grill that also doubles up as a shisha bar, if you're into that kind of thing.

Sweet mint tea was a great start to the meal and the best I've had in the UK since realising I bloody loved it our holiday in Morocco a couple of years ago. Bailey's Mars Bar Milkshake was a perfect Sunday afternoon post-hangover treat.

Antalya's food menu is reassuringly simple - clearly sticking to what they do best with great results. The main reason we were there was to sample the grilled fish, and this did not disappoint - beautifully crisp skin with tender flesh inside, a basket containing way more Turkish bread than we could eat and a tasty sumac-sprinkled salad.

The chicken kebab could be whiffed long before it was seen, the smell of charcoal cooked meat wafting over as the plate was brought to the table. The meat itself was spot-on with fragrant spices, flavoursome enough to compete with the copious amounts of houmous Bailey liberally applied to it.

Antalya's food may not be fancy but it certainly tastes good. The portions are mammoth and we loved sloshing the sauces all over everything; just the sort of meal where you stuff yourself silly and don't even care when someone points out you've got a load of food down your front (and I was wearing a white dress).

Service from a 'naturally' brilliant waitress who endearingly called me and Anna "honey" throughout the meal was also excellent and do you know the best thing, the bill for four of us came to under £40. Bargain. Considering I've seen a couple of comments made recently suggesting the Curry Mile's increasing number of shisha bars is a problem, we loved our shisha bar tea and will be back soon! In conclusion, we love the Curry Mile and want to support the hardworking businesses that make the place what it is so if you find a great place to eat there, do tell us as we want to know about it!

Monday, July 28, 2014

I recently decided it was time to make my old favourite Crispy Lemon Cake as per my lovely late nan Gwen's recipe. However, me and my cake-mad friend Hayley had been discussing ideas for sexy 80's party cakes (Bake-O-Rama meets Club Tropicana, coooooo-ooooool) in a rather worrying amount of detail. We'd set each other a challenge to bake up a storm and send each other pictures so I decided to go with the 'If it ain't broke, fill it with lemon curd and cover it in buttercream icing and 4 tonnes of sweeties plus glitter' approach and give Gwen's cake the ultimate makeover!

As with many things, some of the best and most inexpensive sweeties can be found in the Arndale Lower Food Court's Pick N Mix stand, and I was delighted to purchase loads of lemony sherberty sweeties for just a couple of quid.

The cake looked pretty good even if I say so myself and it tasted crazy/delicious, although I'm pretty sure one bite was enough to send me into a debilitating sugar coma for the evening. The beauty of Gwen's original recipe is that it's very moist and super lemony. My dad was the cake's biggest fan, declaring "I could eat this until I was sick". Thanks Dad...

Recipe:

For the cake:
Follow the recipe for Gwen's Crispy Lemon Cake. Only difference is you need to divide the cake mix between two tins. Then when baked, carefully cut the sponge into four rounds before adding the crispy lemon drizzle mix to all four layers.

I used Primrose Bakery's recipe and bunged the following into my electric mixer and whizzed away until smooth...

220g butter

4 tbsp lemon juice

Zest 4 lemons

1kg icing sugar

Couple of drops yellow food colouring

For the topping:

Lots of sweeties from the Pick N Mix including crushed up sherbert lemons, flying saucers and lemon bonbons. Oh and 'edible' glitter.

Make the cake as per the instructions above before filling each of the layers with lemon curd.

Ice the cake with a layer of lemon buttercream and leave to set before adding another layer. Pipe the remaining icing on top to your desired pattern. I did some big circles to hold my sweeties in place.

Top with as many sweeties as is humanly possible.

Marvel at the craziness then serve. You will need some serious pots of tea on the go for this one as it is siiiiiiiiick-ly!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

There's been an awful lot of talk about street food lately. And it's fair to say Manchester has been getting a bit of a kicking for being "lightyears" behind the likes of London and Bristol. While I'd be on the front lines supporting anyone who wanted to start any sort of street food revolutions around here, for now it would be counterproductive for me to sit here crying into my veggie lasagna about the fact that we'll never have it as good as Portland Oregon and that our events can't compare to London's Kerb or Street Feast... Instead I'd like to talk to you about a city we visited recently that proves that Manchester is fully capable of having a street food scene that does not compromise on quality, originality or atmosphere... Let's talk about Leeds.

A while back we were trading at Belgrave Music Hall's monthly Street Feast. This event had everything I personally would hope for out of a street food event. The atmosphere was spot on but this was down to so much more than the fact the place was packed to the rafters (ALL day!). This wasn't just about "hipsters", this was about food lovers of all ages, families, dogs, good times... The feeling of friendliness and inclusiveness was palpable in the air.

I'll tell you what else this event wasn't about - "cashing in" on a trend. Everything was what I'd consider to be reasonably priced from both the venue itself's bar and the traders (and let's not forget this is only possible when traders haven't been charged an extortionate pitch fee).

Belgrave is also an amazing city centre venue - a converted Riley's pool hall filled with odd-shaped rooms boasting a sun-terrace and more personality than you can shake a stick at. Oh and here's a video about Street Feast where you can see Bailey at 1 minute 44 talking about how great the event is...

It's plain to see that the focus for Belgrave has been creating a high-quality event that works for them but is great for the punter, great for the trader, supports the "little guy", offers unique products, supports the local food scene and is sustainable in the long term. This is the kind of event that warms my cockles and that, if I lived in Leeds I would be coming back and supporting month in, month out.

The only disadvantage of trading at such a successful event is that you barely get time to get out from behind your grill and try a single scrap of food from any of the other traders, so Bailey and I decided to jump on a train a few days later and see what we'd missed out on.

We were reliably informed by the local bloggers that the best breakfast in Leeds can be found at the unassuming yet hugely charming Greedy Pig. While we didn't get to see them in full street food action cooking up their nose-to-tail delights, they certainly know how to put together a great full English and veggie sausage sanger on brioche bun.

Next up we hit the place where all the magic happens, Belgrave itself. Although it obviously had a totally different 'vibe' when not full to the brim with street food fans, it was still a great place to sit and eat a snack or two (or three). Patty Smith's made Bailey one of the best burgers he'd had in yonks - simple, tasty and not over-topped. When I asked him for his one-sentence review, the first word he used was "squidgy" and he SWEARS he hadn't read Marina O'Loughlin using the exact same word to describe them just yesterday, so now we can now declare it scientifically proven that Patty Smith Burgers are squidgy...

Fu Shnikens' steamed Taiwanese gua bao buns were one of my favourite street food dishes of all time and Bailey could barely believe his luck at being asked to pay a mere pound (his cries of "A FUCKING POUND!" could be heard all around Leeds city centre) for a generously topped, tasty slice from Dough Boys.

Our final pitt stop was the well-known Trinity Kitchen which I guess is something like what you'd get if someone spent shitloads of money making the Arndale Food Market uber trendy and putting in a champagne bar. Like at the Arndale there's an eclectic mix of permanent eateries but we were there to see the guest traders - shipped in especially from up and down the UK to ensure Leeds gets access to an ever-changing selection of high quality street food. Another complaint we hear a lot here in Manchester is that you always see the same traders at events, therefore this Trinity setup seems very clever to me and the people of Leeds are clearly on board with it as the place was packed on a weekday lunchtime.

We sampled an unexpectedly spicy Tava Roll from Rola Wala and a huge portion of very tasty sushi from Happy Maki (both trade in THAT LONDON, both doing well here up north). We wanted to carry on eating as there were several other things we wanted to try, but we were unhappily reaching that 'beyond uncomfortably full' stage and therefore returned to Manchester.

So as our train pulled out of Leeds it got us thinking that while we probably won't ever be Portland Oregon and maybe we won't be like That London, we can certainly be like our Northern brothers across the hills in Leeds where they're hitting the right notes when it comes to street food events. We've certainly got the high-quality traders and the punters who want to fill their bellies so it's only a matter of time before someone finds the right set-up and Manchester takes that next big street food leap.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Recently Bailey and I were in sunny Sheff Vegas over the weekend to celebrate jointly the birthdays of both me and my dad. My mum loves going out for countryside drives so we decided to hit up a country pub for our lunch. In the interest of trying out somewhere new (both in terms of eatery and 'little Peak District town'), we chose The Samuel Fox Country Inn in the Hope Valley mining village of Bradwell, which we had found on @FeastAndGlory's extremely useful "Sheffield favourites" page. Lovely stuff!

Not too shabby a view from the top of the hill leading to Bradwell

We rolled up on a quiet Sunday lunchtime and decided to take advantage of their two courses for £26 or three courses for £32 lunch offer. Not alarmingly expensive but enough for expectations of the food to be high (not forgetting also that chef proprietor James Duckett has worked under allsorts of food honchos including that absolute badass Marcus Wareing).

No better way to start a meal in a country pub with a pint of good quality local ale, and the Bradfield Brewery Farmer's Blonde more than did the job. What really impressed us however was the fresh bread. Now there have been a few debates about bread lately and we've always made it clear that we're firmly in the "if a restaurant gives a shit, it will make sure its bread is good" camp. Well Sam Fox certainly gives a shit. Those crackers - MM! So good we ordered more.

Onto the starters and the majority of us around the table were on the Fennel and Blood Orange Cured Sea Trout - fancy pants presentation or what? It tasted great too - perfectly balanced and a delicate and dainty starter. A big hit.

Bailey's Chicken Liver Parfait with Picked Rhubarb & Toast was also pretty dreamboat, the sweet toast some of the butteriest we've tasted.

Main courses were just as much of a hit. My dad was on the Beer Battered Cod with Chunky Chips featuring a beautifully light batter, thrice cooked chips Heston would be proud of and an insane tartare sauce. My mum described her Roast Chicken with Spring Vegetables & Jersey Royals as "to die for". Happy parents!

Bailey's Mixed Grill of Derbyshire Lamb & Beef had a lot of finesse considering it was basically a massive plate of delicious meat featuring some unusual little twists like the mini shepherd's pie. This was great as it had all the merits of an ordinary Sunday lunch but was a bit more exciting.

My Risotto of Spring Vegetables was a fantastic veggie option and was a delight to eat as I kept finding all sorts of unusual mushrooms and unexpected greens.

Feeling giddy after the fantastic food we'd eaten up to this point, three of the four of us decided to get involved in some dessert. I should say that although the desserts were really good, we felt they were the least exciting dishes of the day and I think from what we saw on our visit I'd say the Sam Fox's strength is the savoury stuff. That said I enjoyed my Coconut Pannacotta with Raspberries very much. I didn't love it as much as other courses I'd had but was very nice and creamy and the coconut flavour was quite subtle making way for a nice whack of vanilla, which I liked. A nice springtime dessert.

Bailey was a bit disappointed with his Sticky Toffee Pudding with Stout Ice Cream as it wasn't very sticky or um, toffee-y. We liked the way the dish tasted very "Northern" and had a sort of bitterness to it like Bonfire Toffee but thought they could have stouted up the ice cream a notch.

I can't actually remember what my dad said about it but I remember that he loved it and I guess this picture probably says it all:

Yum.

A delightful meal at Sam Fox Inn and there were other things we really liked about it including the picturesque location, the relaxed atmosphere and most of all the very friendly and down to earth service. Our waitress was so nice and once my dad got talking to her about which is the best well dressing (what's a well dressing? That's what I said - see the Wiki entry on it) in Derbyshire I thought they'd never stop. The décor of the place was fine but apparently just a few days after we were there they refurbished, so a bit of a shame we didn't get to see the new look pub. Oh well, an excuse to return! If you're passing through the Peak District or don't mind a bit of a drive out of Manchester or MAYBE if you can't resist checking out the WELL DRESSINGS (Bradwell's is August 3rd. Apparently the Sam Fox's rooms get booked up really far in advance - you've been warned), you should pay them a little visit!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Yesterday, Mark Garner, aka Gordo, asked me to write an objective summary of the perceived issues we have been aiming to highlight in recent weeks surrounding the advertising policy of Manchester Confidential. He promised that if I were to present an "honest, fair and not insulting" viewpoint, he would publish this on his website, and also respond. I decided against submitting this directly to Gordo for publishing, but hope that he will still respond to what I have to say.

Anyone who takes any interest in Manchester's food and drink scene can't possibly have failed to notice the current feeling of mistrust and general dissatisfaction of some people towards the city's food writers and bloggers. You may have seen us vocally supporting blogging in general as we do think a lot of the perceived problems are not as great as is often made out. However, that is not to say that we do not think there is any truth in some of the criticisms or that every individual is acting with integrity.

One topic I see discussed often is the perceived lack of integrity surrounding Manchester Confidential's use of advertising, and I have seen this discussed both on Twitter and in the website's own comments sections. There appears to be a perception that ManCon gives positive reviews to businesses who choose to advertise with them but criticise or ignore those who don't. I have recently seen examples of the clients themselves getting some of the stick as a result of the negative feeling this perception causes. In addition, there have even been suggestions that the company uses high-pressure sales techniques in order to encourage businesses to pay them for advertising. It is this perception that I wish to discuss, and not whether any of these rumours surrounding ManCon's practices are factually accurate or not, especially given that I have no concrete evidence either way.

One of the practices that may be leading people to hold this perception is the paid reviews (or "advertorials") that appear on the site. These advertorials do not include any labelling indicating the fact that the reviewee is a client of ManCon, although with a bit of digging around the rest of the site it would usually become apparent to the reader that these restaurants are clients of ManCon's due to the weight of advertising. However, at first glance they could easily be mistaken for an independent review as the only difference in presentation is a lack of the usual 'score' and comments section.

These advertorials first came to our attention last weekend, when we visited Kukoos for a quick bite to eat which had very recently been featured in the ManCon Food & Drink section (see here). The restaurant was disappointing, and later discussing our experience with other Kukoos visitors on Twitter, the overwhelming consensus was that many people had had very similar experiences. We went back to look at the Kukoos review and realised it was in fact a paid review/advertorial, as confirmed by the restaurant (see below). We felt that we (and potentially many others) had been misled.

This is the core issue that we wished to discuss with Manchester Confidential: people feeling misled by these paid reviews could lead to a suspicion surrounding the rest of the site's content, hence the aforementioned perception of a lack of integrity.

Bailey did attempt to raise this issue with Gordo himself over Twitter. As per Gordo's request of presenting an "honest, fair and not insulting" point of view, I will not comment on this conversation and would prefer you to read the conversation here and draw your own conclusions (see here).

As a follow up, due to feeling generally dissatisfied with Gordo's answers, Bailey asked All Star Lanes to comment on another recent paid review (see here). We were not only interested in their answer, but were also keen to highlight to the restaurant that being reviewed in advertorials presented in this way can reflect badly on the business in question.

Skip forward a few days and we receive a visit from Gordo himself to our street food stall ¡Arepa! ¡Arepa! ¡Arepa!. For various reasons we have endeavoured to keep our business and blog separate but it isn't always possible and the majority of our customers are aware of our 'alter-ego'. I couldn't possibly transcribe the conversation we had with Gordo word-for-word, but the crux of it was that Gordo told us in no uncertain terms that if we should continue to interact with him and his clients, there would be negative repercussions involving him making it widely known that we were selling an "inferior product". Bailey asked for clarification as to whether or not he was threatening our business, to which he replied "Son, you mark my words: it's a promise".

This was quite a distressing exchange and with Gordo making it difficult to get a word in edgeways, Bailey did resort to telling Gordo to "F. off". This was regrettable and not behaviour that we would condone. At this point I stepped in to explain our concerns to Gordo - that we and many others feel that the way in which ManCon is run comes across as dishonest. Gordo challenged me to find any evidence of this dishonesty, and pledged to donate £1000 to a charity of my choosing should I manage to do so. For me, this would be an impossible task (how on earth could you prove how good or bad an experience a reviewer had on a single day?) but more importantly I feel Gordo is missing the point that some of ManCon's advertising policy and public conduct is toxic to the perception of all his site's content. He did accept my point of view however, and told me that if I presented my thoughts to him in writing, he would happily respond also in writing.

There's not really much else to say; as Gordo requested I have presented the facts, and to summarise: we asked a question regarding Manchester Confidential's advertorial policy and this resulted in quite an unpleasant threat being made to our business, although I'm sure Gordo could argue that there had been a threat made to his. So we await his response. I do have to say though, we don't intend to allow ourselves to be intimidated by Gordo's threats: should our business suffer any of the promised retaliations then we would be happy that this had been as a result of us standing by our strong belief that Manchester's food scene should be a fair, honest and independent level playing field.

EDIT 26/05/14: Since posting this article yesterday we've realised some of ManCon's clients could feel like we are criticising them by implication. We would like to clarify that we are not criticising them, in fact this post is not a criticism at all, it remains a simple recounting of facts. We would like to think that everybody understands that independent businesses need to advertise with major publishers like ManCon and they may not always have an option as to how those advertisements are presented.

EDIT 27/05/14: ManCon have today updated their review guidance which can be found by clicking here. It is difficult to establish what they have updated on this 2012 post but it definitely now does include the line "we'll put from 27 May 2014: 'This article was produced in association with...'" when posting paid content. This can now be seen at the bottom of the aforementioned Kukoos advertorial.

As always with posts of this nature we'd appreciate it if you could leave a comment below with your thoughts as the inclusion of different outlooks really adds to the value of the post.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The only curry recipe I've ever used to turn out not too bad is Ottolenghi's Two Potato Vindaloo. Seeing as I know absolutely nothing about Indian cooking (I'm desperate to learn! Please teach me!), I'm no good at coming up with new ideas so always tend to just stick to this trusty recipe and adapt as necessary.

This time I was having a huge chickpea craving and was dying to make a massive pot of healthy stuff I could snack on for the following few days. I'm not saying this was some fancy gourmet curry but it fed me for just under a week and was pretty tasty, so here it is!!

Start by toasting off the cardamom pods, cumin and coriander seeds and the cloves in a hot frying pan until they become fragrant and browned, then transfer them to a pestle and mortar before grinding them up and removing the shells of the cardamom pods. Mix in the paprika and cinnamon to make a spice mix and put to one side.

Next chop the onions, add to a large pan and soften for around 10 minutes before stirring in the mustard seeds, the fenugreek seeds and ginger. Continue to cook for another 3 or so minutes.

Meanwhile, you can be chopping the tomatoes and red chillis ready to add to the pan. At this stage also add the whole dried chillis, the vinegar as well as some seasoning.

Simmer for around 5 minutes before adding the red pepper and chickpeas.

Now cook this down until the sauce is thickening up and the chickpeas are softening. This could take quite a while - to be honest I lost track but it was bubbling away for at least an hour while I was pottering about the kitchen doing other things.

When the sauce has thickened up, chop up a load of greens.

Add said greens to the pan with the rest of the curry and cook down until they're nicely wilted.

Serve up the curry with lovely steamed rice and sprinkle the plate liberally with coriander and chopped fresh red chillis. Healthy or what?!